Maybe the pair were just acting natural. After all, as American Top Team teammates, they were friends before they first fought.

“I mean, look at how many times we touched gloves in that fight,” Saunders told MMAjunkie.com.

Of course, most sparring matches don’t end in knockouts, so Lima’s lights-out combination at Bellator 57 left Saunders with a permanent reminder of the fight’s reality on his professional record.

Saunders, however, doesn’t give much weight to the setback, and doesn’t feel the need to right that wrong when the two meet a second time in the finals of the Bellator Season 8 tournament.

“I haven’t lost any sleep over my last fight with Douglas because he’s a teammate of mine,” said Saunders (16-5-2 MMA, 7-2 BMMA), who makes his second Bellator tournament appearance after Lima (24-5 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) brought his first to a violent close. “I felt like that fight was a group effort and ATT was going to win either way. I would have been fine if I never had a rematch with Douglas. It wasn’t a rematch I needed.

“It wasn’t like, ‘Oh man, I need to get that one back!’. Any other defeat, absolutely, but Lima, not so much. I didn’t really care.”

The fight headlines Bellator 100, which takes place at Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix. The event’s main card airs live on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com.

Saunders, however, does care a bit when fans equate their common lineage with a similar style. Actually, he cares a lot, if generous expletives are any indication.

“I’ve heard people say that Lima’s style is similar to mine and he’s like my shadow, and man, f–k that!” said Saunders. “There ain’t a motherf—er in the game like me. I’m my own being. There isn’t a motherf—er in the world like me. Now I just have to go out there and prove why I believe I’m one of the best in the world.”

To do that, he’ll be forced to again go live with a friend and training partner. But Saunders is pretty used to that by now, and believes he’s uniquely suited to the tourney vet, who’s stopped five of six Bellator opponents with his fists and kicks.

“You just can’t fear Lima, and I never did,” Saunders said. “I never did. I’m the only guy that ever forced him to go backwards. You look at every other fighter he’s ever fought and they’re all running like a scared little b—h! It actually f—ing pisses me off. It drives me crazy because they’re in this tournament and nobody’s fighting the motherf—er! What the f–k is that? You’re not going to win if you’re scared and you fight scared. I’ve watched all of his fights and everyone is constantly moving away from him.

“But here’s the thing, man, I think all of those fighters were scared because they knew they weren’t on his level. At least the guys I fought in the tournament clenched their mouthpieces and came at me. Those motherf—ers were trying to take my head off.”

Saunders welcomes the same treatment from Lima.

“I definitely feel more dangerous than I’ve ever felt before in my career,” he said. “Looking back on my career, I know I didn’t put all of my effort into it early on. I’m doing everything right now because I can’t afford to come up short. Lima’s got time, I don’t. In my opinion, he’s still got a few years before he even hits his prime. I just turned 30, man. F–k this. I don’t know how many more years I have left in the game.”

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.